Plant for the manufacture of shovels



(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. M. MYERS. PLANT FOR THE MANUFAGTURE 0FSHOVELS.

No. 340,606. atented Apr. 27, 1886.

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INVENTOR.

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(No Model.) 7 SheetsSheet 2 H. M. MYERS.

PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS.

No. 340,606. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

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(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. M. MYERS.

PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS.

No. 340,606. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

1 "I INVENTOR. m, M

WITNESSES N. PETERS, Phnhruthngraphlr. Wuhingmm D. C.

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 4. H. M. MYERS.

PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

IN VENTOR.

WITNESSES:

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E MANUF 0 OVELS,

Patented Apr. 2'7, 1886.

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(No Model.) TSheets-Sheet 6.

H. M. MYERS. PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS.

WITNESSES IN VENTOR. yfld. wk W m,

(No Model.) 7 SheetsSheet 7.

' H. M. MYERS.

PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS Patented Apr. 27,1886.

WITNESSES:

INVENTOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY M. MYERS, OF BEAVER FALLS, PEENSYLVANIA.

PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOVELS.

Ei-BPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. GQQGOG, dated April27, 1886.

Application filed February 10, 1855. Renewed October 22, 1985. SerialNo. 130.637. (No model.l

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HENRY M. MYERS, a citizen of the United States.residing at Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlants for the Mannfacture of Shovels; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

I11 the art of making shovels the great desideratum of the manufactureris to produce the article with facility and by the employment of aslittle skilled labor as possible, so that he can furnish the trade withshovels at the minimum of cost.

In the present state of the art the manner of constructing shovels issuch that a large amount of the labor employed is skilled. labor, andthe process of forming the shovel-blade and its handle-straps consumesmuch time, and their production is costly.

The object of my improvement is to dis pense with most of the skilledlabor now em ployed in the making of shovels, scoops, and spades, and toproduce them with facility and at diminished cost, which is accomplishedby the plant hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art with which my invention is mostnearly connected to make and use it, I will proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a diagram of the plant employed for carrying out theseveral steps of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinalsection of a furnace employed for heating the billets of metal prior toreducing them into bars from which the blanks for shovels are cut. Fig.3 is a side elevation of a machine for cutting the blanks for shovels.Fig. 4 is av perspective view of a bar of a predetermined thickness formthe socket in the blank for receiving the end of the wooden handle. Fig.7 is a perspective view of the blank after its tang has been split andthe socket formed therein. Fig. Sis a front elevation of a pair ofreducingrolls for partially rolling down the blank shown in Fig. 7. Fig.91s a front elevation of a pair of rolls for the further reduction ofthe blank. Fig. 10 is a top view or plan of the blank when rolled out.Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a pair of rolls, representing themanner of introducing the blank between the rolls hereinbeforementioned.

The several instrumentalities hereinbefore mentioned and show 11 may beof any known construction and operation, and are not claimed as being ofmy invention, separately considered.

The furnace for heating the billet of metal (shown in Fig. 2) is locatedas represented in the diagram, Fig. 1, and marked 1, with relation tothe banmills, (marked 2 and 3,) which are used for the purpose ofreducing the billet of metal to bars of a predetermined thickness andwidth, as indicated in Fig. 4.

"The har,after passing from the mill marked 3, is conveyed to theblank-cutting machine (marked -.t in the diagram, and shown in Fig. 3,)and is cut into a series of blanks which are removed to thesplitting-machine, (marked 5 in the diagram, and shown in Fig. 6,) whichmachine splits the tang A of the blank B, (shown in Fig.5,) and formsthe socket therein for the lower end of the wooden handle of the shovel,asiudicated in Fig. 7. A little cinder is then placed in the'sockct andbetween the two parts of the split tangs, to prevent their weldingtogether while undergoing the rolling process. The blank is then removedto the rolls, (marked (Sin the diagram, and represented in Fig. 8,)between which the blank is passed several times, and finally reduced inthickness and increased in length. From this pair of rolls thepartially-reduced blank is removed to the finishing-rolls, (marked 7 inthe diagraimand represented in Fig. 9,) and passed between them untilthe blank is reduced to its desired thickness and length, and if it isde sired to point the blank it is removed to a pair of eccentric rollsand pointed, which operation is well understood in analogous arts.

The blank shown in Fig. 7 is always entered between the rolls, with thetang entering first, as shown in Fig. 11, and rolled lengthwise of theblank or blade of the shovel and its handle-straps, in contradistinctionto the usual plan of rolling the blank transversely or at an obliqueangle to the longitudinal axis of the blade and its handle-straps.

It has been found by experience that if the tang is not entered firstbetween the rolls in the rolling of the, blank they willspreadlaterally, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 10.

The blank, after having been properly reduced, as hereinbeforedescribed, is subjected to the shearing or trimming process, wellknownin the art to which my invention relates, and is afterward given itsdesired form by suitable dies, provided with its wooden handle, andfinished in any of the usual or preferred ways.

The rolls represented in Figs. 8 and 9 are of the construction requiredwhen it is desired to have the shovel-blade and handle-straps withincreased thickness in the center through out the length of the bladeand straps, and diminishing in thickness toward the edges thereof, inwhich case the curved recess in the roll or rolls of Fi 8 (designated asthe breakdown roll in the diagram) is greater than the curved recess ofthe roll or rolls of Fig. 9. (Designated as finisher-rolls in saiddiagram.)

Experience has demonstrated that the differcnce between the two mills orsets of rolls is a necessity in the reducing process hereinbeforedescribed, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art of rollingmetals; but when it is desired to have the shovel-blades of uniformthickness plain rolls will be substituted for the rolls shown in thedrawings.

The blank employed in making shovels, and shown in Fig. 5, is from theend 0 to D equal in length to the desired width of the shovelblade.

My invention comprehends in its scope, starting with the blank shown inFig. 5 or 7 as an article of manufacture, heating it in a furnace andconducting it through the several steps hereinbefore enumerated, toproduce a shovel, and also, starting with the bar shown in Fig. 4,cutting the blanks, and then conducting them through the stepsdescribed.

In the plant hereinbefore described it is contemplated to commence theoperation of making shovels by heating a billet of metal, reducing it tobars, (shown in Fig. 4,) cutting the blank, (shown in Figs. 5 and 7,)and reducing it to the proper width and thickness to form 2. rolledshovel, or to commence with the bar shown in Fig. 4, or to commence withthe blank shown in Figs. 5 and 7 and conduct it through the stepsenumerated at one heat and one continuous operation, thereby producing ashovel of superior quality at a greatly-reduced cost of manufactureandwith the employment of unskilled labor.

It has been demonstrated by practice in my works at Beaver Falls,Pennsylvania, that, by my method of manufacturing shovels and spades bymeans of the plant hereinbefore described, in making one hundred dozensshovels or spades five men and one boy accomplish it with more case anddo better work than was formerly done in said works by twenty-five men.111 addition, there is also this advantageviz., seventeen furnaces andfourteen tilt and steam hammers are dispensed with, and a saving of onehundred and forty bushels of coal is secured in the making of the saidnumber of shovels or spades, which shovels or spades, under the said newmethod and said plant, are finished with more ease, are better inquality, and the waste of stock is diminished at least three pounds perdozen, and defects in the shovels and spades de creased nine-tenths,which, taken in connection with the economy of room, of firebrick, andfire-clay, clearly indicates that the said method and plant is a stepforward in the art of making shovels and spades of no small proportion,and which saves in the manufacture of shovels and spades one dollar andtwo cents per dozen, which fact has been ascertained by carefulobservation of the working of said plant and the expenses connectedtherewith as compared with the best method and means known to the art.

It will be observed by reference to the diagram shown in Fig. 1 that anauxiliary furnace (marked 9) is indicated, the function of which is toretain the heat in the blank in the operation of reducing it should anybreak in the continuity of the operation occur.

In application No. 161,276, filed April 6, 1885, I have claimed a plantin which the rolls herein shown for reducing the billets to bars havebeen omitted, and in No. 161,277, same date of filing, I have claimedaplant in which the bar-rolls and the blank-cutting machine are omitted.

The blanks shown in Figs. at and 10 and the process involved in theirproduction are claimed in other applications for Letters Patent of evendate, and marked Case B, O, and E, respectively.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I herein claim is For themanufacture of shovels, scoops, or spades, a plant consisting of afurnace for heating billets, rollers for reducing them to bars, amachine for cutting the blanks, a ma chine for splitting the tang toform the han tile-straps, and socket-rollers for reducing the blank, anda point-reducer, all arranged and operated with relation to each othersubstantially as described.

JAMES J. JOHNSTON, \VM. XV. S. DYRE.

Corrections Letters Patent No. 340,606.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 340,606, granted April27, 1886, upon the application of Henry M. Myers, of Beaver Falls,Pennsylvania, for an improvement in Plants for the Manufacture ofShovels, errors appear in the printed specification requiringcorrection, as follows: In line 123, page 2, the comma after the Wordstraps and the hyphen after the Word socket should be stricken out and acomma inserted after the word socket, and that the Letters Patent shouldbe read with these cor:- rections therein that the same may conform tothe record of the case in the Patent Office. I

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 25th day of May, A. D. 1886.

H. L. MULDROW,

[sEALJ Acting Secretary of the Interior.

Oountersigned:

M. V. MONTGOMERY,

Commissioner of Patents.

